You’ve finally landed the interview for your dream job — congratulations! Best of all, you don’t have to worry about driving or parking, because the interview is virtual.
However, there’s still a lot to think about when preparing for a video interview. If you make mistakes or come across as unprofessional, you can lose the opportunity to do the job you’re excited about.
How can you sell yourself in a video interview? Here are the tips you need.
Be on Time
You might think that being on time is a slam dunk since you get to interview from home. However, it’s easier than you think to get distracted with other tasks or forget about the interview time.
Get plenty of sleep the night before the interview. Set an alarm for the interview time. Set multiple alarms if you need to. Make sure the alarm is early enough to give you time to stop what you’re doing and prepare for the interview!
If you’re late to any interview, especially a remote one, you’ll likely lose the opportunity right away. No one wants to hire someone who can’t be on time.
Dress Professionally
Yes, remote work is all about being able to wear sweatpants every day, but interviews are different. You want to project yourself as highly professional, and that starts with what you wear.
We recommend you dress professionally down to your shoes. Perhaps the interviewer won’t see it, but you’ll know that you’re dressed up. That will directly impact your self-confidence and energy.
And while we’re talking about confidence. Here is Marielou Mandl with some on camera confidence tips that you can use to ace that interview.
When you feel great about yourself, you are more attractive to others, including prospective employers. Take advantage of it!
Choose a Great Location
Many people are working from home now, but there can be a lot of distractions in your own space. Kids, pets, even talkative partners and spouses can accidentally interrupt an interview and create an unprofessional distraction.
Consider choosing a different location for your interview if your home is noisy. For example, you can set up at a library or pay for a desk at a co-working space. You might also consider asking a friend or family member who lives nearby if you can interview at their house if it’s quieter.
The background of your video is important as well. For most of us, our homes don’t look like clean and organized offices. Don’t worry! Tidying up isn’t as complicated as it sounds. You can simply shift everything around so that your mess isn’t on camera. Better yet, grab a green screen (or blue screen) and choose any background you want. Ecamm Live makes it look professional easily.
Practice Common Interview Questions
The interview may be virtual, but the common interview tips you’ve received in the past still apply. That includes practicing questions in advance.
You can have a friend or family member ask you the questions, or you can practice answering in a mirror — or both! It’s easy to find lists of common questions to work from. Be sure to spend the most time on questions that are more difficult to answer, such as “Tell me about your greatest weakness.”
Finally, before the interview, think back to different work experiences you’ve had and how you’ve learned from them. Interviewers will often ask about past events, so be sure you’ve thought through your memories and can tell the stories clearly. Be sure to focus on how you grew, not on how someone else was unkind or unjust. After all, the interview is about you!
Test Your Technology in Advance
An hour or so before the interview time, set up your technology and ensure everything is working well. Try a video call with a friend, turn off all distractions, and make sure your internet connection is strong.
If you have a lot of video meetings throughout the day, you might struggle with video fatigue. In that case, try to schedule the interview during the part of the day when you’re freshest. For some, that might be the morning, but for others, it could be the afternoon.
As you test your technology, practice your video presentation skills as well. You want to ensure you’re smiling, look alert, and look directly at the camera when you’re talking. Shut out all distractions so that you can shine during the interview!
Remember, apps like Ecamm Live make it easy to up your video quality even when you’re interviewing using Zoom. Use the two apps together to give your potential employer the best possible video quality.
Research the Organization and Prepare Questions to Ask
Anytime you interview with an organization, you want to research that business ahead of time. Find out and make note of minor facts such as when and where they were founded, along with big-picture information like who their target customers are and what products and services they offer.
When you’ve done your research on the company, you’ll come across as motivated, interested, and well-prepared.
You’ll also want to write down questions you have for the interviewer during the video call. Prepare other questions in advance so that when the interviewer asks, “Do you have any questions for me?” you’ll have something insightful ready.
Ace Your Video Interview!
Interviewing for a position you’re excited about can be nerve-wracking, but you have plenty of time to prepare. With the tips we’ve shared, you’ll be well-rested, on time, and ready to answer the questions the interviewer has.
Your dream job is waiting. Go for it!
This post was written and contributed by Jori Hamilton.
Jori Hamilton is an experienced writer residing in the Northwestern U.S. She covers a wide range of topics but takes a particular interest in covering topics related to business productivity and marketing strategies. To learn more about Jori, you can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.
